by Ron Roy
“That’s weird,” she said. “There are already some flakes floating on the water. Did one of you guys feed the fish?”
“I didn’t,” Dink said.
“Me neither,” said Josh.
Ruth Rose looked at the food floating on the top. “Well, someone did.”
“Maybe it was the fish fairy,” Josh said.
“OH MY GOSH!” Ruth Rose screamed.
“What’s the matter?” Dink asked. Josh jumped to his feet, and he and Dink hurried over.
“Look what’s on the bottom!” Ruth Rose said. She pointed down through the water.
Josh put his nose up against the glass. “Looks like a bunch of rocks to me,” he said.
Ruth Rose frowned. “Somebody go turn out the lights,” she said.
Josh gave Dink a push. “Go ahead, Dinkus!”
Dink hurried over to the wall and flipped down the switches. The music, fan, and lights all went off.
Ruth Rose pointed at the bottom of the tank. “See that glowy green rock? I think it’s the jewel!”
Dink elbowed Josh aside and looked at the stone. “No, it’s too big,” he said. “The emerald was like a golf ball, remember?”
“Things always look bigger underwater,” Ruth Rose said. “Your eyes are playing tricks on you again, Dink!”
Ruth Rose reached down and plucked the green rock out of the tank. Water dripped onto the floor as she wiped it on her jeans.
Out of the water, the rock didn’t look anything like the other rocks in the fish tank. In the tank light, the rock shone a lustrous green.
“Wow!” Dink said. “It’s beautiful!”
“How did it get in there?” Josh asked.
“I guess the thief dumped it in,” Dink answered.
“But why would the thief do that?” Josh asked.
Ruth Rose shook her head. “Maybe he needed a quick place to hide it.”
Dink nodded. “James was here early this morning. Maybe we caught him in the act!”
“I’m turning on the lights,” Josh said. He headed for the wall switches.
“Stop!” Dink said suddenly. “What’s that sound?”
“What sound?” Josh asked as he turned on the fan, music, and lights.
Dink walked over and flipped the switches down again. “Now listen,” he whispered in the darkness. “Hear it?”
“I think I do,” Ruth Rose said. “Like a little buzzing.”
“Maybe it’s the fish tank,” Josh said.
Ruth Rose clicked off the bubbler. “Nope, I still hear it,” she said.
“Now I hear it, too,” Josh said. “What can it be? Everything’s turned off!”
“I’m going to turn on just the lights,” Dink said.
When they could see, the kids began prowling around the office.
Dink stopped in front of the bookcase. “Guys, it’s louder over here!”
Josh giggled. “The Case of the Buzzing Books!” he said.
Dink stood on tiptoe and ran his hands over the shelves. He felt a small button and pushed it. Suddenly, a shelf slid open. “Look!” he cried.
“Hey! Those books are fake!” Josh said. “It’s a hidden compartment!”
The space behind the fake books held a small TV set and VCR. With the compartment open, the buzzing was louder. Then the VCR clicked, and the noise stopped.
“It was rewinding,” Josh said. “It must have come to the end of the tape. My dad’s machine does the same thing.”
“Yeah, but rewinding what?” Dink asked.
Then the VCR clicked again. The kids watched as a red light came on and the numbers on the machine’s face started counting up—:01, :02, :03…
“Hey!” Josh said. “Now it’s recording!”
“Maybe your uncle has it for security,” Ruth Rose said.
“You could be right, Ruth Rose,” Dink said. He glanced at the ceiling. “There must be a camera somewhere in the office.”
“Do you think we’re on a video?” Ruth Rose said. “Let’s take a peek!”
“Good idea!” said Josh.
Dink quickly rewound the tape to the beginning, then turned on the TV and hit “play” on the VCR.
An image came on the screen. For a moment, the tape showed them standing in front of the TV and VCR.
“Cool!” Josh said.
Then the picture jumped and changed. Now the office looked empty and dark. They watched as the office door opened and James Pride walked in.
“This must be earlier today,” Ruth Rose said. “James got here before us.”
“Maybe it recorded him stealing the jewel!” Josh said.
They watched James walk over and switch on the lights. Then he took off his raincoat and walked into his own office.
The kids looked at each other. James hadn’t gone anywhere near the crate.
“Hit ’fast forward,” Josh said. “We can scan ahead.”
Dink pushed the button, and the tape began whirring fast. The picture on the screen flickered.
“Look!” Ruth Rose said. “Something’s happening!”
Dink quickly pressed “play.” The tape slowed, and the kids saw themselves and Uncle Warren walk into the office.
They watched as they met James Pride. Then Uncle Warren let in Dr. Pitts. The crate was opened again, and Dr. Pitts checked the contents of each package.
“Now we take the jaguar out of the crate,” Dink said.
“And the doc tells us it’s a fake,” Josh added.
Ruth Rose pointed at the screen. “And here he takes out his flashlight.”
“And Dink and I pull the shades and shut off the lights,” Josh said.
The picture went black.
The next thing they saw was the light from Dr. Pitts’s flashlight. Then it went out.
“This is when you found the flashlight for him,” Ruth Rose told Josh.
A minute later, Dr. Pitts had the light in his hand again and was shining it on the jaguar’s jewel.
Then the lights came back on. Regina Wu soon showed up, and then the police came. The tape showed everyone leaving the office.
Dink reached out to hit the “stop” button.
“Wait!” Ruth Rose said. “What about Yvonne and Regina Wu?”
“Oh, yeah,” said Dink. “Good thinking, Ruth Rose.”
They watched the empty office for a while. Dink was about to scan ahead when the door to James Pride’s office opened and Yvonne walked in!
“The secret door does connect to Yvonne’s kitchen!” Ruth Rose said.
They watched as Yvonne walked across the office—straight toward the fish tank! When she got there, Yvonne made kissing noises at the fish. Then she picked up the fish food, sprinkled some into the tank, and turned around and left.
The kids looked at each other. “I guess she’s not the thief,” said Josh.
Ruth Rose turned back to the TV. “What about Regina Wu?” she asked.
They watched the tape for a few more minutes, but Regina Wu never appeared. Eventually, they saw themselves come through the office door.
Dink stopped the tape and hit the “rewind” button.
“I wonder why your uncle didn’t tell the police about this tape?” Josh said. “If they watched it, they’d at least know that James and Yvonne didn’t steal the jewel.”
Dink nodded. “Yvonne didn’t know the jewel was in the fish tank,” he said, “so I’ll bet Jean-Paul didn’t put it there.”
Dink looked sad. “And if Regina Wu couldn’t even get in the office…”
Ruth Rose let out a gasp. “That means—”
“That means my uncle is the only other suspect,” Dink said.
Josh’s mouth fell open. “Your uncle’s the thief?” he asked.
“Josh!” Ruth Rose scolded. She turned to Dink. “Your uncle isn’t the thief,” she said. “He never had a chance to take the jewel. We were with him when he opened the crate, and he sure didn’t take it on the tape we just saw.”
Dink felt sick even th
inking that his uncle might have stolen the emerald. “What about when we turned out all the lights?” he asked.
“But that was so quick,” Ruth Rose said. “I don’t see how he—”
“Guys! The desk!” Josh said suddenly. “Look at it! Do you see anything different?”
Dink and Ruth Rose looked at Uncle Warren’s desk.
“What do you mean?” Dink asked. “There’s nothing but the blotter and the letter opener, the same as yesterday and this morning.”
Josh hit the “play” button on the VCR. He fast-forwarded until the tape showed the room and everyone in it.
“There!” he shouted a moment later. “Look at the letter opener. The tip is pointing toward the windows, right?”
“Yeah, so what?” Dink said.
“Wait a sec and you’ll see.”
In the film, the lights went out. After Dr. Pitts finished shining his flashlight on the jewel, the lights came back on.
“Now look!” Josh cried. “See, the letter opener is pointing away from the windows. It got turned around!”
“Why does it matter, Josh?” Ruth Rose asked.
“I don’t know,” Josh said. “But someone picked up the letter opener while the lights were out, then put it down again.”
“Who was standing closest to it?” Dink asked, hitting “stop” and “rewind.”
“I think Dr. Pitts was,” Josh said. “He was standing right in front of the jaguar. The letter opener was a few inches away.”
“But why would he want the letter opener in the dark?” Ruth Rose asked.
Just then, they heard thumps outside the office door, like someone stomping on a carpet.
“Who’s that?” Ruth Rose whispered.
Josh gulped. “Is the door locked?” “I don’t think so!” Dink whispered back. He swept a hand over the wall switches. The room darkened except for the small light over the fish tank.
“Look!” Josh whispered. Through the frosted-glass window in the door, the kids saw a tall shadow.
They heard a click, and the doorknob turned.
“Hide!” Dink whispered. “James’s office!”
The kids dashed into the small office. Dink left the door open a crack so he could see who entered.
It was Dr. Pitts.
Dr. Pitts stepped into the dark office. The kids watched him creep toward Uncle Warren’s desk.
Suddenly, he switched on his flashlight. Turning slowly, Dr. Pitts played the beam around the room.
In James’s office, Dink shrank back against the wall. He held his breath. Next to him, he could feel Josh and Ruth Rose trembling.
Dink dared to peek out again. The flashlight was now lying on the desk. Its beam made a yellow circle on the fish tank.
Dr. Pitts was crouched down, staring into the tank.
Suddenly he swore. Dink watched Dr. Pitts grab his flashlight and shine it wildly around the room.
Dink froze and held his breath. When he peeked out again, Dr. Pitts was shining the flashlight beam at the floor, near his feet.
He bent over and touched something on the floor.
Dink thought about the water Ruth Rose had dripped there.
Dr. Pitts once more shone the flashlight’s beam around the dark office. The light fell on James’s door.
“Who’s in there?” Dr. Pitts said.
Dink closed his eyes. He felt his whole body grow cold. Ruth Rose let out a soft gasp.
Then Dink heard footsteps. Dr. Pitts was coming toward their hiding spot!
We have to get out of here! Dink thought. He pressed himself against the wall—but suddenly the wall wasn’t there!
Dink felt a strong hand grab his arm. Another hand went over his mouth. Struggling, Dink felt himself being dragged backward.
“Don’t speak!” a hoarse voice whispered in his ear. “Come with me!”
Too frightened to resist, Dink let himself be led. He reached out for Josh and Ruth Rose but felt nothing. Where were they?
“Down here, quickly!” the voice said.
Dink felt stairs under his feet. As he stumbled down, he smelled something familiar.
At the bottom of the stairs, a door opened. Dink saw light. He smelled onions.
He was in Yvonne’s kitchen!
Then Josh and Ruth Rose piled into him. Yvonne released his arm and slammed the door shut. This was the same narrow door Dink had seen her close before.
“Come,” Yvonne said, putting a finger to her lips.
Yvonne rushed them toward the front of the restaurant.
“The thief is still up there,” she said. “I must lock the outside door. He will be trapped, no?”
She hurried toward the exit, but Dr. Pitts was already racing past the restaurant’s window.
“He is gone!” Yvonne wailed. “Now we will never catch him!”
“It’s okay,” Dink said, grinning. “I have a feeling we caught him on video.”
“Video?” Yvonne asked. “I do not understand.”
“My uncle has a hidden camera in the office,” Dink explained.
He looked at Josh and Ruth Rose. “I hit the ’rewind’ button before we had to hide, remember? I’ll bet the tape rewound to the beginning and started recording again before Dr. Pitts came in.”
“Not only that,” Josh said. “His fingerprints should be on the letter opener!”
“Letter opener?” Yvonne asked, looking at the three kids.
“I think I’ve figured that out,” Ruth Rose said. “When the lights were turned off, he must have used the letter opener to pry the jewel out of the jaguar’s paws. Then he quickly switched in the fake and slipped the real jewel into the fish tank.”
“But what does it matter, this camera and these fingerprints,” Yvonne said, “if he has the jewel?”
“But he doesn’t!” Ruth Rose said. She opened her fist and showed the emerald to Yvonne.
“It was in the fish tank, and I got it out before he did!”
“How lovely!” Yvonne said, giving Ruth Rose a hug.
“Now what?” Josh asked.
Yvonne went for the wall phone. “Now we call the police!” she said.
Jean-Paul held up his water glass. “I propose a toast,” he said.
Uncle Warren and Yvonne raised their glasses.
“To three brave and smart kids!” Jean-Paul said, looking at Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose.
“Hear, hear,” Uncle Warren said. “You put a crook behind bars and saved a priceless jewel from being stolen.”
“It all started with your telling me to remember my cookie,” Dink told his uncle.
Dink’s uncle smiled. “I knew if I gave you my key and reminded you not to trust what you saw, you’d figure it out.”
“Ruth Rose’s cookie said she’d find a treasure in an unexpected place,” Josh said, “and she did!”
“And Josh noticed that the letter opener had been moved,” Ruth Rose said.
“Yeah, and Dink found the video recorder behind the books,” Josh said.
Dink smiled at Yvonne. “And thank goodness you rescued us!”
“When I came to give you more cookies, you were gone,” Yvonne said. “Then I saw that doctor man sneaking into the downstairs door. I ran up the back stairs!”
“Why do you have those hidden doors?” Ruth Rose asked Dink’s uncle.
“Many years ago, the Porter Museum was a private home,” he explained. “Old Mr. and Mrs. Porter’s servants used that back stairway to go up and down. When the Porter home became a museum, the architects decided to leave the doors and stairway as they were.”
“I’m glad they did!” Josh said.
“When I’m away Yvonne comes up to feed my fish,” Uncle Warren said.
Yvonne smiled. “And you thought perhaps I was the one who took the jewel, no?”
Dink blushed. “Yeah, but then I saw Regina Wu sneak into the building, so I thought it was her, too!”
Uncle Warren laughed. “She called a while ago and explained that,” he said.
“She’d forgotten her umbrella and went back up to get it.”
“Uncle Warren,” Dink said, “why didn’t you tell the police about the camera and the video?”
His uncle laughed. “I honestly forgot the camera was there!” he said. “Besides, I’m a dunce when it comes to anything electronic. James had it installed, but even he tends to forget about it.”
“The part I don’t understand is how Dr. Pitts could switch the glass emerald for the jewel so fast,” Josh said. “And in the dark!”
“I’m sure he practiced,” Uncle Warren said. “And when he first came in, he must have spotted the letter opener on my desk.”
“So that’s why he wanted us to put the jaguar down on the desk close to the fish tank,” Dink said. “He knew he was going to slip the emerald into the water.”
His uncle nodded. “Yes, and then come back later to get it.”
“So when he told you to get a second opinion,” Ruth Rose said, “the jewel really was a fake. Because he’d just taken the real one, right?”
“Right,” Uncle Warren said. “And he almost got away with his scam.”
He smiled at his dinner companions. “But he didn’t figure on three detectives hiding in James’s office!”
Just then, they heard bells jingling outside the restaurant.
“Aha, our ride is here!” Uncle Warren said, standing up.
“What ride?” Dink asked. “Can’t we walk back to your apartment?”
“We’re not going right back, nephew,” his uncle said. “Come!”
He led everyone outside, where a large white horse stood waiting. The horse was harnessed to a buggy. All along the harness leather were small lights and bells.
A short man climbed down from the driver’s seat. He wore a spiffy gray suit and a black top hat.
“Hello, I’m Alfie,” the man said, “and this lovely horse is Prince.”
“Climb aboard!” Uncle Warren said.
“Cool!” Josh said, hoisting himself into the buggy. “Where are we going?”
“Who cares?” Ruth Rose said, climbing in next to Josh.
Uncle Warren helped Dink up and then sat next to him.
“We are going to see New York City by night,” he said. “I don’t want you to go home thinking all we have here is loud traffic and jewel thieves!”
